This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on May 30, 2018

PBA Holdings Bhd (+ve)
SHARES in water supply company PBA Holdings Bhd (fundamental: 2.05/3, valuation: 2/3), which triggered our momentum algorithm last Friday for the first time this year, closed three sen or 2.5% higher at RM1.23.

It saw 220,100 shares — over four times its 200-day average volume of 51,619 shares — traded.

PBA’s net profit jumped 46% year-on-year to RM15.08 million from RM10.34 million in the first quarter ended Mar 31, 2018, on higher water consumption by both domestic and trade consumers.

Revenue for the quarter ended 31 March 2018 grew 6% y-o-y to RM85.94 million from RM80.72 million.

On prospects, PBA expects revenue from the sale of water to further increase in line with population growth and business activity levels.

At the current share price, the group is trading at 0.49 times its book value, and has a market capitalisation of RM403.82 million.